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That was the focus of a panel discussion Tuesday at Decoded Fashion NYC, titled “Seducing the Customer Back to Bricks and Mortar” and moderated by Jenna Blaha, the technology and lifestyle editor at Marie Claire.

As e-commerce takes a bigger bite out of total retail sales and department and specialty store operators shrink their physical footprint, it’s worth remembering that there’s no substitute for the experience of shopping in real life.

“There may be recommendation engines online but there’s no persuasion engine. The idea of going into a dressing room and having someone work with you, there’s a persuasive selling element to that and we haven’t replicated that with technology yet,” said David Munczinski, founder and chief executive officer of Brickwork, a software solution that aims to bridge the gap between online and offline retail. “The opportunity that retailers have, whether they’ve had stores for 100 years or whether they are just starting out online, is to leverage these physical assets that you can invest in to drive a more whole experience.”